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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062601">GISH : Cornucopia Edition</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GythaOgg/pseuds/GythaOgg'>GythaOgg</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cornucopia, SC [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, GISHWHES, Gen, Magic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:34:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,958</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GythaOgg/pseuds/GythaOgg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when fourteen Cornucopians (human and otherwise) decide to take on GISH? If you’ve ever played GISH, you know it’s a game full of eccentric activities and unusual people . . . but they’re not quite as unusual as THESE people.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cornucopia, SC [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1310612</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      It was a perfectly normal Friday in June when Charlie bounced into the tattoo shop, cell phone in hand. Well, perfectly normal for Cornucopia, anyway. A goblin stood in the doorway to Castiel’s studio, wearing only a pair of jeans and an Oakland A’s baseball cap, t-shirt bunched up in his gray-green claws. He was half-turned toward the couch in the lobby, where Dean sat, shaking his head and chuckling.</p>
<p>      “Carnegie, dude. A+ for dedication, but you really got a thing for the underdogs.”</p>
<p>      The goblin scowled. “The Steelers are not underdogs! They’ve won six Superbowls!” “Mmhmm, how many of those were in the last 40 years?” “What do you know? Human perspectives are too limited to appreciate historical trends. You only live for like, 20 minutes. Castiel, back me up here!”</p>
<p>      Cas half-turned from his station to throw a fondly exasperated glance at Dean. “You can’t blame them for having short lifespans, Carnegie. Besides, it’s not like goblins are eternal. From my perspective, your life isn’t much longer than Dean’s.”</p>
<p>      Dean leaned back on the couch, folding his arms across his chest, smug as can be.</p>
<p>      Carnegie’s lips turned down at one corner, and he rolled his beady, red eyes, throwing his skinny arms in the air. “Bah! Leave it to the bazillion-year-old angel to wreck the curve. Can we maybe get to the tattoo part, now?”</p>
<p>      “Of course, Carnegie; have a seat. Dean – quit harassing my customers.”</p>
<p>      The smug smile slid off Dean’s face, replaced by wide eyes and arched eyebrows, but before Dean could come up with a witty reply, Charlie plunked herself down beside him, bouncing in excitement.</p>
<p>      “Dude! Guess what we’re doing!?”</p>
<p>      Dean couldn’t help but grin at Charlie’s never-ending enthusiasm. He knew actual fairies who were less bubbly. “What are we doing, kiddo?”</p>
<p>      Charlie thrust her cell phone in his face and proclaimed, “GISH”.</p>
<p>      Charlie’s phone showed a web page with a big, bold header saying “GISH”. Below the header was some text that Dean didn’t bother reading, followed by a photo of several people in evening gowns and tuxedos, drinking wine at a table . . . but clearly underwater, in a swimming pool. Just below that one, Dean could see half a picture of a woman in a very odd-looking bikini.</p>
<p>      “Is that bikini made of . . . bananas?” he asked, and reached out to the phone’s screen to scroll down.</p>
<p>      Charlie beamed. “You bet your sweet ass it is! One of last year’s GISH items. We’re totally playing this year!”</p>
<p>      Scrolling back up a bit, Dean tried to read the text at the top of the page, but Charlie kept jerking the phone around, gibbering about “items” and “lists” and “charity”. Chasing the jumping text with his eyes started to make Dean a little nauseated, so he tried a different approach. He grabbed Charlie’s forearm and held her still.</p>
<p>      “Charles! Focus. What are we playing? What. Is. Gish?”</p>
<p>      Pointing a finger at him, the redhead nodded. “Right. Yes. GISH is the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. It’s a HUGE game played for charity; there’s teams all over the world! There’s like, 200 things on the list, and you pick a bunch of them to do. You get points for each one, and the team that gets the most points wins a trip somewhere, but that’s really not the point.”</p>
<p>      As she sucked in a breath, preparing what was clearly going to be another rapid-fire, run-on sentence that Dean would not be able to follow, he lifted his hand from Charlie’s arm and raised his palm in front of her face.</p>
<p>      “Stop. Breathe.” Charlie did. “OK. What are these ‘things on a list’? How does a banana bikini help a charity?” Charlie pressed her lips together in excitement and grinned at him. “So, there’s a registration fee for GISH, and part of that money goes to a charity called Random Acts. Also, some of the projects on the list are always about raising money for charities, or donating stuff, or volunteering somewhere.” Dean opened his mouth to ask another question, but Charlie continued, her excitement visibly ramping up again. “BUT a lot of the items are fun, creative, silly stuff. Like, you have to carve a famous person’s portrait into a green pepper, or make and eat a sandwich with your feet, or stage a flash mob at the Post Office.”</p>
<p>      Dean’s eyebrows were creeping up his forehead as Charlie talked. “Obviously you’re pretty psyched about this, but uhh . . . it really doesn’t sound like my kinda thing, kiddo.” He shook his head a little, looking slightly apologetic as his friend deflated.</p>
<p>      “Come ON, Dean, it’ll be so fun! You, sir, have not had a particularly fun life, don’t you wanna just PLAY for once?” Charlie pouted and whined, throwing in big, sad eyes at the end, for good measure.</p>
<p>      “OK first, your puppy dog eyes could use some work. Get Sam to give you some pointers. Second, my idea of fun involves a lot less vegetables and a lot more nudity. Third, I’m supposed to be dead, remember? I can’t post photos of me eating a pepper sandwich with my feet at the Post Office.”</p>
<p>      That last one apparently hit home. Charlie stopped sticking her tongue out at him and looked a little taken aback. “Oh. Shit, I didn’t think of that. Well, you could still do things where your face isn’t in the picture, right?” At Dean’s scowl, she heaved a sigh. “Fine, you don’t have to be on the team. But you’re totally helping! That’s not a request.”</p>
<p>      “Mmhmm, we’ll see. Who else are you roping into this travelling circus?”</p>
<p>      True to form, Charlie’s demeanor switched right back to eager, joyful, mischief. “Ruby Perrino, Zoe Lovelock, Garth, Zomo, and Khalid are already in. I haven’t asked Jenna &amp; Sydney yet, but I’m pretty sure they’re up for it. I’m gonna ask Kristina Conrad when she comes in for her appointment today, too. I was banking on you, Cas, Sam, and Jess, but you kinda blew that out of the water, party-pooper.”</p>
<p>      Rolling his eyes, Dean huffed a laugh at his friend. “This whole thing sounds like it’s right up Jess’s alley, and if she’s in, you know Sam will tag along. Seems a little goofy for Cas, though.”</p>
<p>      Neither of them had noticed that the sound of Castiel’s tattoo machine had stopped several minutes earlier, so they both jumped when Cas called out, “What’s a little goofy for me?”.</p>
<p>      Less surprising was the goblin’s scratchy voice, mumbling, “Besides Dean?”</p>
<p>      Snorting, Charlie twisted on the couch to face the door to Cas’s studio. “A super fun, creative contest for charity that you should absolutely do with me, and not lame out like your killjoy boyfriend!”</p>
<p>      A moment later the door opened, and Carnegie emerged, a t-shirt now covering his scrawny torso, and a white bandage peeking out from under the sleeve. Castiel walked behind him, but was focused on Charlie. “What kind of contest?” he asked.</p>
<p>      As Cas took the goblin’s payment for the tattoo and printed him a receipt, Charlie described the scavenger hunt and all the great things that GISH had achieved for charities over the years. The animated redhead barely paused for breath, and Carnegie actually left halfway through her spiel, shaking his head and chuckling. When she finished, Dean met Cas’s eyes over her head, with a wry expression on his face. Instead of politely bowing out, however, the angel squinted at Dean, glanced back down at Charlie and said, “I’d love to play GISH with you, Charlie. What do I need to do?”</p>
<p>      Charlie squeaked, jumping up to hug Cas around the neck. Without letting go, she twisted to look back over her shoulder at Dean, sticking her tongue out once again. Dean gaped at them, speechless, as Charlie pulled her phone out and texted a link to Castiel, then walked him through the registration process.</p>
<p>      “Have you asked Jessandriel and Sam yet? I think Jess would love it.” Cas asked, putting away his cell phone.</p>
<p>      “Not yet, but they’re my next stop. We’re meeting at the Bagelry for lunch, but I’ll be back by 2 for Kristina’s appointment. I’m so glad you said yes! You’re gonna have SO much fun! See you in a bit!” Charlie chirped, walking backwards toward the shop door. Just before she pushed it open, she darted a look at Dean, still on the couch, and called out, “Later, spoilsport!” before dashing out the door.</p>
<p>      Dean briefly closed his eyes, squeezing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. When he felt the couch cushions shift, he looked over at Cas, who looked serene. <em>No, smug. Could you look serenely smug? Meh, angels probably could.</em></p>
<p>      “Why on earth did you agree to that nonsense? You don’t usually go in for silly, goofy shit.”</p>
<p>      Can rested his palm on the side of Dean’s face and smiled gently at him. “It’s for a good cause, it will be entertaining, and it will make Charlie very happy. And besides, Dean, sometimes silly and goofy is good for you.” Then the angel’s smile widened, and he tapped Dean on the nose. “Boop!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      Over the next week or so, Charlie continued to recruit for her GISH team, landing Tobias Abercromby (the half-fae tailor), Jess, Sam, and the veterinarian, Ryan Farnes. Ruby Perrino had also convinced her boyfriend Gabriel to play. By the time the end of July rolled around, Charlie had shifted into planning mode, and Dean had heard a <span class="u">lot</span> of weird GISH-related stories.</p><p>      “Why do you want everybody’s dryer lint, Charlie? That’s pretty odd, even for you,” he asked at lunch one day. “Wait, don’t tell me . . . this has something to do with GISH?” Charlie’s grin was all the confirmation he needed, and he was quick to cut her off before she launched into an explanation. “Nope, don’t care. You can have the dryer lint. I don’t wanna know.”</p><p>      The day after GISH registration closed, Charlie, Castiel, and Abby were sitting around the tattoo shop, waiting for their next appointments, when Charlie got a text. She frowned at her cell phone and typed a quick reply. As her colleagues watched, Charlie’s eyes bugged out of her head and her ears turned a rather vivid shade of pink, her thumbs flying across the face of her phone.  </p><p>      Abby grimaced at Castiel, manicured brows raised up high. When Cas shrugged, the demon turned her gaze back to Charlie, who was starting to look like she might throw her phone across the room. Charlie rarely got mad. “OKAAAAAY, wanna share what’s suddenly got you so pissed off?”</p><p>      Charlie pursed her lips, fuming, and slapped her phone down on the table in front of her. “That was Ruby. Apparently, Gabriel forgot to sign up for GISH, and now registration’s closed, and we only have 14 people on our team. FOURTEEN, not 15.”</p><p>      Abby and Cas blinked at Charlie, waiting for her explanation to make sense. After a few seconds, she continued in an exaggeratedly patient tone. “The teams have to have at least 15 people. If you don’t have 15 when registration closes, they merge you with another team, or throw random individual players on your team, to fill it up. That means we’re going to have a NORMAL, non-Cornucopia HUMAN on our team! How are we supposed to interact with them for a whole week without them noticing there’s something a little ‘off’ over here?”</p><p>      Abby looked mildly impressed. “Ohhhh. OK, yeah. That does kinda complicate things. Who’s on the team again, besides you, Cas, Sam, and Jess?”</p><p>      Charlie started counting off on her fingers. “Me, Cas, Sam, Jess, Zomo, Tobias, Garth, Jenna and Sydney, Khalid, Zoe, Kristina Conrad, Ryan Farnes, and Ruby.”</p><p>      Cas tilted his head to one side before responding. “I don’t think that will be a problem.”</p><p>      “How is it not a problem, Cas? We have a mermaid, two weres, a vampire, two half-fae, a djinn, and an aren on the team,” Charlie whined.</p><p>      “Because they can all pass for human in photos, except for Sydney, and we can work around her horns. Worst case scenario, we’ll get someone to make them invisible for a video.” Cas smirked. “Actually, I looked up a few of the GISH lists from previous years, and I think the diversity of talent on our team might be very useful. For instance, underwater photos seem to be quite popular. Jess has gills and I don’t need to breathe, so that would be easy. We’d just have to crop the photo so you couldn’t see her tail. Slice of cake!”</p><p>      “Piece, honey. It’s PIECE of cake,” Abby corrected her friend, and half-raised a hand to interject. “Question – when they add the 15<sup>th</sup> person to your team, is it geographical? I mean, are they gonna pick a normie who lives nearby, since the rest of your team is all in one place?”</p><p>      “Nope,” Charlie replied, shaking her head. “As far as I can tell, the only matching criteria is whether you’re trying to win the contest, or just playing for fun. The random normie could be in Idaho or Australia, so I doubt we’ll get anyone close enough to physically participate. Yeesh. THAT would be rough.”</p><p>      As it turned out, their random 15<sup>th</sup> team member was a woman named Melanie Thomas, a studio sound technician in Long Island NY. She had only GISHed once before, but was excited to play again, and as far as Charlie could tell, she was an entirely normal human. Charlie set up a Team page on Facebook for communication, and two days before GISH began, all 15 of them got online to introduce themselves. They all posted a little ‘getting to know you’ blurb: name, location, job, hobbies, talents, and a random odd fact about themselves. There was a lot of discussion over what constituted “odd” for them, but when Charlie read them all, she was pleasantly surprised to see that none of the Cornucopia folks had lied. She’d expected some of them to have to fake a ‘normal’ human talent, for instance, to keep Melanie in the dark about their supernatural aspects. As it turned out, however, her friends had been able to be honest, without being obviously non-human. Ruby really WAS a dentist who ran a weekly poker game and was a little bit obsessed with acro-yoga. Zomo really WAS Nigerian, and he DID run a day care center, and Sydney really WAS a middle school teacher who loved to crochet. Cas really WAS a tattoo artist, and really DID speak “several” languages. Ryan really WAS a veterinarian, an avid rock climber and a kayaker. Melanie did not need to know that Ruby was also a vampire, that Zomo could turn into a jackalope, or that Sydney had a pair of ram’s horns on her head. It was probably best that she didn’t know that Cas actually knew every language every invented, or that Ryan was a werewolf.</p><p>      Melanie was kept blissfully unaware that her team was not entirely human, but she was a little intimidated by the fact that the whole team not only knew each other, but actually lived in the same town. Charlie did her best to reassure the woman in a Messenger conversation.</p><p>      “We all signed up thinking we’d have a totally local team, but then someone fell through at the last minute. Honestly though, I’m kinda glad we ended up with someone who’s played before. We’re all first-timers, so we expected to figure it out together, but I’ve been looking at lists from old hunts, and it’s kinda daunting. I think you’re gonna be really valuable.”</p><p>      “Well, I’m great with crafty stuff, and anything to do with sound editing or recording, but I’m kind of an introvert. Anything that requires being the center of attention in a crowd, or getting a tattoo, or approaching strangers on the street, I’m not gonna be much help with.”</p><p>      Charlie grinned to herself, thinking of how outlandish many of her friends were, and how no one in Cornucopia would bat an eye at strange behavior. “I think we can cover that stuff. A lot of us are extroverts, and our town is pretty tolerant of weirdness. Tattoos are definitely not an issue!”</p><p>      That seemed to be enough to mollify Melanie, and two days later, they were all eagerly waiting for the List to drop. They’d already agreed that Charlie would post a Google doc that the whole team could access, and that they’d each choose 2 or 3 items at a time, then claim more once those were complete. Everyone would post their completed items on the private Facebook page, and the team would comment with offers of help, suggestions, or approval for each item, as they went along.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      They hit their first snag midway through Day 2.</p><p>      “What do you mean, the list <span class="u">changes</span>, Melanie!?” Charlie screeched.</p><p>      “Didn’t you read the Commandments? They START with 200 items, but they add more every day or two, and some of the original items change, or get deleted altogether. If they’re gonna delete one, though, they usually do it early on.”</p><p>      “WHY would they delete an item? That’s insane!”</p><p>      “Well, it’s usually if the item ends up breaking a law, or might put players in danger. Sometimes an item sounds like a great idea, and then someone goes to do it, and it turns out there’s a local restriction that’s actually enforced, or it would be physically dangerous to do what the item requires, or something like that.”</p><p>      “So this happens a lot?”</p><p>      “Pretty much every year, from what I’ve heard.”</p><p>      “Yeesh.”</p><p>      “Just have someone keep an eye on the list every day, or set up alerts for the GISH Facebook page or Twitter feed. They always announce it when something is changed or added.”</p><p>      In the end, Charlie asked Neko Tesla, Cornucopia’s local technofae, to set up some kind of automatic update link for them. Tech-savvy as she was, Charlie still wasn’t sure exactly how the thing worked, or how much of it was magic, but their Google doc corrected itself every time the master GISHlist changed, and anyone who had claimed a changed item automatically got a text notification. It worked, and it meant no one had to waste time checking and rechecking the list every day.</p><p>      Everyone participated, and in the end, everyone had a blast, including the unoffical team members. These were the “innocent civilians” who got pulled in to help with various items. Gabriel was obligated, of course, and Charlie held a grudge, maintaining that he’d still owe her, even after GISH was over. In fact, Gabe, Ruby’s son Dylan, Sydney &amp; Jenna’s son Christopher, and Dean Winchester all ended up helping with quite a few of the items. Dean huffed and rolled his eyes a lot, but Cas saw the smile on his face after they did the first item, and they all noticed that Dean seemed to be available to help over and over again after that, no matter how much he grumbled.</p><p>      Four days in, Sam and Dean were knee-deep in marshmallows, building a 3 foot tall version of the Acropolis of Athens. It shouldn’t have taken them 4 hours, but Dean kept eating their building materials. Watching his brother snip a marshmallow in half with (now, very sticky) scissors, Sam chuckled and arched one eyebrow. “You’re totally signing up next year, aren’t you?”</p><p>      “Psshht, no! I’m only helping because it gets me brownie points with Cas.” He stuffed another marshmallow into his mouth, mumbling, “and free candy”.</p><p>      Sam’s eyebrow climbed higher. “Mmhmm. You’re not fooling anyone, jerk.”</p><p>      “Shut up and hand me that lighter, bitch.” He melted a few marshmallows together, before squinting up at his brother again. “Dude, how are you doing the pictures, anyway? You and me are supposed to be dead; aren’t you worried one of these photos is gonna end up on an FBI computer somewhere?”</p><p>      Sam stuck his bottom lip out, shaking his head. “Nope. I’m gonna tie my hair back and wear a baseball cap in all the pictures. Plus, even if someone recognized me, they’d never find me. It’s not like we used our real addresses on the registration page, and Cornucopia is un-traceable. Don’t worry, I checked with Chief Themis before I signed up. We’re safe.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      Everyone did more than they expected to, with the team submitting a grand total of 84 items. Their only real supernatural difficulty was, as Cas predicted, Sydney’s horns, but they only presented a problem in two cases, and the team just worked around them. In one item, she and Tobias dressed as 16<sup>th</sup> Century courtiers, with Sydney’s hair done up in a huge, elaborate Elizabethan style that completely concealed her horns, for <strong>#9. IMAGE: Let’s see you and a friend, seated side-by-side, donating blood or platelets. Wear something festive on your head to commemorate the occasion. </strong>In another item, she wore a Cookie Monster costume, which covered her head to toe.</p><p>      Some of the projects should have been nearly impossible, but since they had very unusual friends, the team was able to knock out a couple of the more obscure location-based items. These included <strong>#43.  Go to the Grimm Brother’s statue with 10 of your friends and dress up and pose as a “Fairy Tale gone bad!” </strong>This was Sam’s item, in which The Three Bears called the cops and Goldilocks got arrested. The Bears were played by Sam, Khalid, and Ryan (in borrowed bear suits from an old Halloween costume), Jess played Goldilocks, the cops were Kristina, Garth, and Zomo, and Zoe, Jenna, and Charlie played nosy neighbors.</p><p>      When Melanie realized that the only Grimm statue was in Europe, she nervously messaged Charlie.</p><p>      <em>Hey, I know you’re all new to GISH so you might not realize this,</em></p><p>      <em> but you CANNOT photoshop the Grimm Brothers statue into a photo.</em></p><p>      <em> It’s against the rules.</em></p><p>      <em>They want you to get 10 people in costume in front of the ACTUAL statue, in Hanau.</em></p><p>      <em> So, unless you have a bunch of friends in Germany,</em></p><p>      <em> we can’t do that one.</em></p><p>      After a quick brainstorming session with Sam, Charlie quelled Melanie’s suspicion by telling her that they had a “pilot friend” who thought this whole GISH thing was adorable and offered to help with private transportation. (Technically true, since they didn’t specify what kind of transportation.) The “pilot friend” was actually two Cornucopia gods (Eastyn and Dio) and two demons (Abby and Meg), who each agreed to teleport 2 or 3 of them, in costume, to Hanau and back. The four “pilots” dropped the players off and hung out in a biergarten for an hour, before flicking them all back home.</p><p>      Originally, they’d asked Esther Rulyae, as she was very fond of several members of the team and tended to be a big softie when it came to anything lighthearted. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out.</p><p>      “Oh sweetie, this GISH thing sounds delightful, and I’d be happy to help with any of your little projects. But I think it would be best if you got someone else to transport you. Technically, I CAN move you there and back with very little effort, but the extradimensional space I move through is . . . challenging . . . for humans. You’d all be perfectly safe, physically, but it might drive some of you a little bit, well, insane? I don’t think we should risk that for a photograph. What else can I help with?”</p><p>      Indeed, Esther ended up helping with two other items. For <strong>#59.  Knit a “GISHWHES” vest for a cat with matching booties</strong>, Esther taught Cas how to knit. Once he had it down, Cas spent an hour convincing Devon to be the cat in his photo. In the end, Devon required bribery. He was perfectly willing to wear a little knitted sweater, but the booties were almost a deal-breaker.</p><p>      Esther also helped with one of Khalid’s Items:<strong> #113. Three adult men with facial hair (ideally beards) wearing ballerina costumes, successfully trick-or-treating (getting candy) from an unsuspecting homeowner. </strong>He got Sam and Cas to join him in ballerina drag, and they went to Esther’s house, because she always has candy. They didn’t warn her ahead of time, and when she answered the door, she laughed so hard she nearly peed her pants.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      While Devon had required begging, coercion, and eventual bribery to play a pet, Ryan Farnes thought the whole premise of non-humans playing GISH was hilarious, and chose items that were intentionally tongue in cheek, with Ryan always starring as The Dog. He used Ruby, Charlie, and Zoe as his human adults for <strong>#7. Three adults and a dog sitting on chairs around a table in a public library. The humans are reading dog or cat-related books. The dog is wearing eyeglasses and reading philosophy</strong>. Ryan not only kept a copy of the final photo, he had it printed and framed.</p><p>      For <strong>#52</strong>, they got Ildriss to help create enough snow to <strong>build a real igloo-doghouse in the snow. Dog must be visible in the doorway. GISHWHES must be written in food coloring on the doghouse.</strong> They had to crop the photo so you couldn’t see the green lawn and blooming trees in the background, and the snow melted 5 minutes after they took the picture, but it was pretty cute nonetheless.</p><p>      He volunteered for any dog-related roles anyone else needed, as well, helping Sydney with her <strong>#18. A dog that looks like a wolf wearing a Gishwhes t-shirt. Bonus points if it’s an actual wolf. </strong>Since Ryan was, in fact, a (were)wolf, he looked pretty damn convincing. He kept the shirt that Sydney made him, as a souvenir, and had the whole team sign it.</p><p>      Ryan had the most fun (and least effort) staging<strong> #</strong><strong>149 </strong>for Kristina<strong>:  Let’s see you in a cage staring down an animal in a cage. The catch: your cage is in his cage. </strong>Being the vet had its privileges; they used the biggest guest kennel at the Zootique, and found a dog crate large enough for Kristina to squeeze into. While Sam and Kristina cleared out the space and set up the shot, Ryan went from kennel to kennel, playing with the residents and checking on a few patients. When everything was ready, he and Kristina had an actual staring contest. (Ryan won, but it was a close call.)</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
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    <p>      Some of Charlie’s items were absolutely hilarious. Never one to shy away from the bold or audacious, she tended to pick the more eccentric projects (which is saying something, in the context of GISH). <strong>#25. A photo of a scantily clad fireman (or firemen) whose skimpy attire is made entirely from kale. Model must be posing in front of a fire truck. Bonus points if, behind him, water is shooting up into the air from a hose or hydrant. </strong>This ended up being Benny posing in front of his fire truck, in kale booty shorts and kale suspenders, with Emir, shirtless but in normal fireman’s pants, boots, sunglasses, and suspenders, holding the erupting fire hose in the background. It took a long time to get a shot where neither man was laughing, and where neither Bella nor Sassafras were in the frame, since both dogs kept trying to chase the water or eat Benny’s kale outfit. The first seven pictures were great, but it would have been hard to come up with a believable explanation for a granite pug and a smoking, red-eyed Rottweiler leaping through the air in the background. Eventually, they had to call Ellen for help. She brought over two huge burgers, which occupied the dogs <span class="u">just</span> long enough to get two good photos.</p><p>      Charlie also recruited Benny for help with <strong>#38. A Hell’s Angel (or at least a tough &amp; leathered biker) with an authentic Care Bear tattoo. </strong>She originally asked George Foundersson, but the dwarf said no. (Specifically, he said, “I’m 225 years old, girl. I’ll be damned if I’m getting a cartoon inked on my hide”.) So she asked Benny, and he was all for it. The burly fire chief wound up sitting on his Harley for the picture, brandishing the new Laugh-a-Lot Bear tattoo on his right bicep: a reddish-orange bear with a laughing yellow star on it’s belly. Oddly enough, it suited him.</p><p>      Perhaps the silliest photo Charlie appeared in wasn’t even her own item, but Khalid’s. <strong>#150.  It’s Medieval Battle Time! Huzzah! You and a friend or loved one, dress up in your best battle gear/armory comprised entirely of kitchen ware. You can be wearing nothing else. Strike dueling poses. </strong>The two of them raided the industrial kitchen at Khalid’s bakery, and decked themselves out in sieve helmets, with armor made of spring-form pans, kitchen twine, and cookie sheets. They staged an actual mock battle with rolling pin swords and pot lid shields, and made so much noise in the parking lot that they ended up with an audience. They even earned a round of applause when they finished!</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
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    <p>      Ruby was by far the most dedicated player on the team, doing even more projects than Charlie. Several items on the list played right into her sense of humor, and she staged them incredibly well. For #<strong>133. A woman wearing traditional shaker attire playing “Dance Dance Revolution”, </strong>Ruby wore a long-sleeved cotton dress, a long skirt, a head scarf, a white shawl, a white apron, and white sneakers, dug out her old Wii console, and found a copy of Dance Dance Revolution online. She was remarkably good, too!</p><p>      There was never any question who was going to claim <strong>#50</strong>, since Ruby was the long-standing host of a weekly poker game. <strong>Little Jack Horner, Little Bo Peep, Peter Pumpkin, Little Boy Blue and the Queen of Hearts at a late-night vice-ridden poker game.</strong>  Ruby used her Bo Peep costume from two Halloweens ago, and recruited Cas (Jack Horner, with a plum), Jenna (Queen of Hearts, also an old Halloween costume), and Zomo (Peter Peter, with a pumpkin), along with her son Dylan, as Little Boy Blue, asleep, and holding a horn.</p><p>      The next day, Ruby took the Bo Peep costume to Tobias and got him to alter it into a princess dress for the next item: <strong>#10. While showing some sign of the dragon-attack on your clothing or body, panhandle on a sidewalk (NOT ON A MEDIAN IN TRAFFIC!) with a sign that reads: “A DRAGON BURNED MY CASTLE DOWN.” Donate any money given to you to your local food bank. Bad karma if you don’t. </strong></p><p>      There were several more, but the most elaborate item Ruby set up was <strong>#8.  Ever seen the movie “The Hangover”? Let’s see the aftermath of the most debaucherous party ever. Photo must be taken at a nursing home. </strong>With Dr. Agondray’s blessing, she staged the TV room at the Medical Center’s rehab floor with Solo cups, feather boas, empty liquor bottles, cards, poker chips, and bras, couch cushions akimbo, a med cart on it’s side, and strategically placed senior volunteers Esther, Abner Sorend, Kisho Sato, and Quito Alvarez playing hungover or passed out partygoers.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
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    <p>      Jess, always up for anything outrageous, had a few exceptionally funny submission photos. With the help of Zoe and Sam (and Dean’s precious Impala), she set up <strong>#34. Wear cheese and wear it well. You cannot be wearing anything but cheese. You may use any type of cheese you wish. Supermodel it posed next to or on a classic car (a classic car is any car that predates 1980.) </strong>She designed a cheese bikini, with Zoe directing her on which types of cheese to use, and Sam helping to sculpt the cheese to her body, when necessary. (And let’s be honest, way more than necessary, not that Jess was complaining.) After some heavy-duty puppy dog eyes, a guilt trip, and a promise of pie, Dean reluctantly let them use the Impala for the photo, though every shot was prefaced by him shouting, “Not ON the car! NEXT to her, OK. But NO CHEESE is to touch my Baby!”</p>
<p>      The most obvious item on the list was <strong>#72. A Yoga class in a yoga studio with at least 10 participants doing the same pose. Unlike everyone else, however, you must be wearing full skiwear including ski boots, skis, hat and goggles. </strong>Though it was a simple set-up, using one of Jess’s existing yoga classes, she didn’t actually know how to ski, so Jenna loaned her some gear.</p>
<p>      And yes, Jess and Cas did indeed get to do their underwater item<strong>: #54. Anyone can camp in the middle of the forest, but with wildfire season at a high, that's just too risky, and campgrounds are too crowded. Pitch your tent underwater to be safe! We want to see it all: a tent, cooler, sleeping bags… and, of course, a lone camper, roasting marshmallows over a "campfire." </strong>They set up in Tobias’s salt-water swimming pool, for the lighting, and Jess hid her tail in a sleeping bag and pulled her long, blonde hair over her gills, while Cas sat on a cooler at the plastic, inflatable campfire, with a marshmallow on a stick. They both had a lot of fun, but Dean was a little annoyed at having his borrowed tent returned sopping wet. </p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
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    <p>      The kids of Cornucopia had arguably even more fun than the actual team members during GISH week, helping in several items. The largest group effort was for Garth’s item <strong>#59. Hold a pillow fight that involves 10 or more people all in pajamas.</strong>  This one involved Garth, Charlie, Jess, Aileen, Dylan Perrino, Echo Andoran, Endra Rivers, Eli Clooney, Gates Tran, Wyatt Foundersson, Aeryn Kuraci, Ewen &amp; Meriel (the Selkie kids), Tuesday Kuraci, September Juno, and Myeko Watanabe. The pillow fight went on far longer than necessary for the photo, and three pillows were killed in the process, but it was a great time.</p>
<p>      Zomo did<strong> #147. Make a comfortable fort in your living room using furniture, sheets, pillows, towels and curtains. From inside your fort, show a storm raging outside your window. This video must clearly show high winds and rain outside the window and the window must have an “X” of masking tape across it. </strong>Technically, he could have done it alone (with Ildriss’s help to make the storm), but what fun would that be? So, he built a huge fort with every pillow, cushion, blanket, sheet, and spare curtain he owned, strung up some Christmas lights, took his photo, then invited over the coolest toddlers he knew (and their grown-ups). Robbie &amp; Rose Collins, Eli Clooney, Ewen, Tuesday Kuraci, and September Juno spent a good hour squealing and giggling and clambering around the blanket compound, while the adults took pictures and drank hot chocolate.</p>
<p>      The other crowd-sourced kid item was perfect for Cornucopia. <strong>#32. Fifteen children in Halloween costumes each holding up a sign with a different letter that, combined, say “GISHWHES or Treat” </strong>This one was also Zomo’s, and since pretty much everyone in Cornucopia had a good stash of Halloween costumes, there was no shortage of kids to hold signs. Plus, costumes allowed equal opportunity for everyone to be in the photo, since pink hair, horns, fur, and beards could be easily disguised or hidden. As word spread, they ended up with far more than 15 children wanting to participate, so they had a big group photo, with 15 of the kids in front, holding the signs. The picture ended up featuring Christopher Simon (his Monopoly Man hat covering up his nubbly horns), David the little golem (Thing from Fantastic Four), Ewen (Barney Rubble), Meriel (Betty Rubble), Robbie Collins (Olaf from Frozen), Rose Collins (Elsa from Frozen), September Juno (a priest), Tuesday Kuraci (a bunny rabbit), Aeryn Kuraci (a pink-haired unicorn), Wyatt Foundersson (a bearded Mark Twain), Endra Rivers (Wonder Woman), Echo Andoren (cowgirl), Gates Tran (Willy Wonka), and Melissa Boyce (Johnny the gorilla, from Sing). All the kids were beaming, excited about having their photo in a contest, and the 15 up front even more so, very proud that they were picked to hold the signs. This was the last group item the team did, and when it was done, Zomo knew he’d be playing GISH every year.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
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    <p>      The team voted on each item as it was completed (thumbs up for approval, or comments for suggestions to improve), and one of the most popular photos was Tobias’s Teddy Bear Hunt. #<strong>15. What would a teddy bear hostage situation look like?</strong> This one featured Tobias tied up and gagged, surrounded by teddy bears, with a ransom note taped to his shirt, demanding <em>We Were Promised a Picnic!!!  No picnic, no peace!  Tea parties are for DOLLS! </em>It was adorable, and also Tobias’s pride and joy, since he collected very well-dressed teddy bears, and finally got to give them their moment in the spotlight.</p><p>      He also had the Item that garnered the highest number of odd looks from passersby:<strong>#29. You’re a pirate, so dress like one. In addition to the eye-patch and other accoutrements you must have a live bird perched on your shoulder. You should be standing on your ship’s deck, which in this case is neither a ship, nor a deck… it’s a queue at the Department of Motor Vehicles.</strong> This was less because there was someone dressed as a pirate at the Cornucopia DMV, and more because it was TOBIAS, who was notorious for being impeccably dressed at all times. He had planned to wear a rather elaborate costume of silk and lace and gold braid, but the team unanimously agreed that he looked more like the Vampire Lestat than a pirate, and insisted he tone it down. In the end, he went with a somewhat dandified version of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, and carried his pet cockatoo, Aziraphale.  </p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
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    <p>      As it turned out, the Cornucopia locals weren’t the only civilians who got dragged into the GISH hunt. Melanie’s grandfather ended up in a trashy mini-dress, a wig, high heels, and hoop earrings, for <strong>#8. Dress your grandfather (or a man over 75) like a teenage girl from Jersey Shore.</strong> He looked good!</p><p>Melanie also held the most emotional role in the Hunt, choosing to complete Item <strong>#90: Someone you know has always wanted something incredible. Surprise them with something they’ve always wanted. </strong>This could have been a cute, silly reproduction of an island vacation, or a chance to be a movie star in an over-the-top home video. But Melanie had immediately thought of her mom, and told the team about it in a group text conversation on Day 4.</p><p>      Melanie’s mother had been a young, single mom, her husband walking out on them when Melanie was just a baby. She’d worked two jobs for almost 20 years, finally quitting one of them only when Melanie had finished college. Her mom had played piano when she was young, and was quite good. They couldn’t afford a piano of their own, of course, but Melanie’s earliest memories were of her mom playing records of classical music, and dancing Melanie around the room, in her arms. She was always humming Beethoven and Chopin, and when she was home, she would play air piano on the kitchen table. Melanie’s maternal grandparents had an upright piano years ago, but when her dad left, her grandparents sold the piano and their house, moving into a smaller place nearby, so they could help take care of Melanie. She had always dreamed of being able to buy her mom a piano, and she’d saved up more than $1000 over the years. The problem was, she’d have to buy from a music shop if she wanted it delivered, and $1000 didn’t even come close, even for a “previously loved” upright, in decent condition.</p><p>      She asked if the team could help her find someone who would rent her mom a piano, or let Melanie buy it on installments, but still deliver it. The team was so moved by Melanie’s story that they decided to go to Samir, and see if he would help. Samir Bes Masuda was Besu, Egyptian god of music and dance, (and currently, also the Artistic Director of the Charlotte Ballet Company). He also happened to be a very kind, compassionate person, with a lot of money, and an enormous network of connections in the world of music and performing arts. Castiel and Charlie went to visit Samir, speaking with him about the premise of GISH, and about Melanie’s mom. 30 minutes later, Samir made two phone calls, and the next day, Melanie’s mom received a beautiful “used” upright piano, delivered to her home, with Melanie there to film the surprise. Her mom cried, Melanie cried, her grandpa cried. When the team saw the video, Charlie cried, Sam cried, Zomo cried. Even Ruby cried. It was by far the most meaningful part of their whole week, and everyone was glad to have been a part of it.</p><p>      In the end, Charlie and Melanie stayed in touch, and most of the team promised to play again next year. They even picked up a few more local recruits. Some were park of the team’s support network (like Dean, Esther, and Benny) and some were just bystanders who’d seen all the fun, chaotic shenanigans going on, and wanted in! Sure, there were stressful points – moments when a 3 foot pile of marshmallows caught fire and nearly melted Sam’s shoe, for instance, or when the German police got a little too curious about a bunch of weird American tourists who just appeared out of nowhere – but the joy outweighed the angst, and everyone agreed that it was a genuinely good week. They raised money for charities, they made some hilarious memories, and they had a great time, together.</p>
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